It is a Scheme of awards instituted by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment and it upgraded to the status of National Awards.
It is conferred on the eminent senior citizens and institutions in recognition of their services towards the cause of the elderly persons.
It is given annually by the President of India to mark ‘International Day of Older Persons’, celebrated every year on 1st October since the year 2005.
It is awarded in two categories – Institutions and Individuals from any part of the country.
Nominations are invited from Governmental and Non-Governmental Agencies.
The following 3 notable institutions are among those honoured this year,
Madhya Pradesh Municipality – Runs a day care centre for senior citizens
NGO in Kerala – Sensitised people to the need for taking care of elders
State of Tamil Nadu – Established Maintenance tribunals in each sub-division.
Monsoon Model
IMD deploys various dynamical model to predict monsoon rains in the country.
Traditionally, IMD has relied on its statistical database of over 100 years to estimate the chances of a good monsoon or a drought.
It is based on correlations between certain weather parameters such as temperatures in the Indian ocean, or the warm water volume in the Pacific.
Over the years, IMD came with a new dynamical model which relies on capturing interactions between the land, ocean and atmosphere and tracking how the changes in each affect the other.
The conditions are mathematically simulated on supercomputers and extrapolated into the monsoon months.
The dynamical model is also called the Climate Forecast Model (CFS), implemented on the Prithvi High Performance Computers (HPC) at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.
It was developed as part of “ National Monsoon Mission” by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, to develop both short and long-term forecasting.
It failed to forecast August-September surge in monsoon rainfall.
This year, India have recorded its highest monsoon rain in 25 years.
India ended up with 10% more monsoon rain (or 110% of the long period average LPA of 887 mm) than usual.
However, none of the agency’s models tuned to capture long term forecast trends warned of this.
The statistical models said that All India Monsoon Rainfall (June-September) would be 96% of the LPA.
The CFS model said the monsoon would be 94% of the normal and updated to 99% in August.
U.K. Verdict on Nizam’s Fund
U.K. court has recently given verdict over 71 years old case involving India, Pakistan.
The case dates to days during Operation Polo in 1948.
During the operation, India deployed armed forces in Princely State of Hyderabad to concede it into India.
Osmal Ali Khan, Nizam of Hyderabad sought weapons from Pakistan and transferred the money (now worth £35 million) to the account of High Commissioner of Pakistan in London.
However, Hyderabad’s armed forces had already surrendered during the military operation.
Within days of surrender, the Nizam, sent a message to the National Westminster Bank demanding that the money be transferred back to his account.
Pakistan also claimed the money as a gift or as payment for a shipment of arms.
In 1965, the Nizam assigned to the President of India, his claim to the fund, and joined forces with India to fight for his claim on the money.
After many twists and turns, the U.K. court has rejected Pakistan’s claim and ruled in favour of India and the Nizam’s descendants based in Turkey and the U.K.
It granted them access to a £35 million fund.
India Economic Summit
World Economic Forum's 33rd edition of the India Economic Summit is going to be organised in New Delhi.
It is jointly organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and industry body CII.
The theme of the summit is 'Innovating for India: Strengthening South Asia, Impacting the World'.
It will host world leaders to discuss issues like Inclusive growth, the environment and innovation.
Paryatan Parv 2019
Ministry of Tourism is organising Paryatan Parv 2019 dedicated to 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Its objective is to encourage Indians to visit various tourist destinations of the country and also to spread the message of ‘Tourism for All’.
The three components of Paryatan Parv, are:
Dekho Apna Desh: To encourage Indians to visit their own country
Tourism for All: Tourism Events at sites across all States in the country are being organised
Tourism & Governance: Interactive Sessions & Workshops with Stakeholders on varied themes will be organised across the Country
